Maybe I shouldn't have started this blog now, not with everything that's been going on.

I will now discuss the top three robot designs (at least in my opinion) during our Tow-The-Line Wars.

Third was the Rapier. For defense, this robot just sat at one side of the line and surged forward when something crossed its line of sight, extending its “sword” from the undercarriage to tag the opponent.

This ranks higher than most of the robots because it went against the assumption that all sensors during defense would be in front instead of at the side. Besides, I got to marvel that kind of ingenuity that was able to attach a motor to the reaching “arm” reminiscent of the movie “What Planet Are You From?”

This only ranks third though because their offense strategy was just speed, and they had to strip the robot down to the bare skeleton (removing the “arm”) to make it faster.

Coming in second is the Great Wall of China. It is actually two robots in one connected by a loose “chain” just to be technically called one robot. It was the one that took up all the extension wires, and its controller could actually be placed outside the arena.

The first part – the Wall – is a large flat slab on wheels whose main purpose is defense, but acts as a decoy during offense. The second part of the robot what a small two-wheeled motorcycle that runs out of the side after the Wall has positioned itself in front of the defender.

Why is this only second? Because the program was not so complicated as it could have been, and the chain (and the wires) between the two robots still allowed it to be tagged during offense. But it was the one that won most in defense.

It also assumed that the other robots would be using forward motion and proximity detection during its defensive mode.

First place for me is the Cha-cha Dancer. This one had two programs and no body modifications switching from offense and defense.

The same sensors in front and allowed it to move side to side in defense mode TOWARDS the obstacle, was the one that made it go forward and back in offense mode AWAY from the direction of the obstacle in offense mode, not going forward until its way was clear.

And hands down, it was the robot that had the most apparent preparation and coordination among the members of its building team.

This is despite the fact that Deiv is in that team, and has only been signing in the attendance and leaving the lab during the preparation stage, up to the point where his teacher now has to send him to the guidance counselor because of his attitude which may cause him to fail the subject.

Other than that, the competition was an unqualified success in terms of showing the engineering students’ creativity and planning. Their final project: Knock Down Standing Robots.

Next time I’ll discuss the Marketing Fair that happened during my mechanics classes, and the Induction of New Officers. For now, class dismissed.